12/26/2012

Yesterday, December 25th, was Christmas Day in the United States and I celebrated this event the first time without my native family.

Because my hostfamily is really big, the first relatives were here December 22nd and I got my first present.

In the evening of December 24th we went to the church to celebrate Christmas Eve.

The biggest Christmas celebration with unwrapping the rest of the presents and eating a lot was during December 25th. We had a big lunch with all the family and in the early evening we got the presents that were already laying under the Christmas tree since a couple of days.

That is what I got (I admit: Some of the candy is already missing ;-) )

From my hostparents: Some really comfy pajama pants, a Nike FitDry-Running-Shirt, a Kansas picture book, a quiz book, M&Ms and some other things.
From my hostbrother: A Coke puzzle and a nice Kansas map from 1760.
From the Exchange student get-together: A "Batman - The Dark Knight Rises"-DVD
From my grandma: 2 bars of awesome chocolate, a Cranberry fruit bar and some chocolate snowmen

Unfortunately the post was too slow to deliver the Christmas packet from my parents in time - I'm still waiting for it... :o

Overall my Christmas 2012 was really really nice even if it was without my native family. I skyped with my parents, my brother and my two grandmas on December 24th for a little bit, but I was pressed for time because of my Christmas baking (Articles: Christmas Baking and Christmas Baking vol. 2).

Additionally I want to give you a general comparison of Christmas in the USA vs. in Germany:

Like in Germany, getting together with the whole family is very important in America during the Christmas time.

In the United States, December 24th is only Christmas Eve and everybody goes to church, but Christmas Day with unwrapping presents and eating together is celebrated on December 25th.

The Americans imported a "German tradition": They are hanging a glass pickle in the Christmas tree - and whoever finds it first on Christmas Day gets a small extra present. I personally have never heard of that tradition until I came to America even if it is a tradition coming from Germany.

The year 2012 is almost over, but I guess I'm gonna have at least 1-2 more articles to write until New Years Eve.

12/23/2012

Today I had an exchange student get-together with 4 other exchange students (Mexico, Bolivia, Belgium, Germany) and their host families and we ate my "Hefezopf" and other desserts made by the exchange students.